SOULspace

A little experiment and I am glad I did it. I was asked to show sign language at my daughter's school, which got extended to a small 40 minute programme on Disability and how children can help. I knew this was a group of 3rd, 4th and 5th std children and the best way would be ... through a story( I truly believe in the power of a story!!). I Googled and as expected, got a wonderful story. Just the brief outline. But that was enough for me. I added relevant details and drama, and there was a tale for me to tell about a disabled Giraffe who is ridiculed and made the odd one out as he could not dance with his knobbly legs. He is then helped by his tiny friend, the Cricket, to come out with his own unique way to do a new dance, by choosing another song, a slow one. So the Giraffe creates the Swaying Dance! The children really appreciated it, and what I could not have conveyed but just stating facts, I could convey through the story. It is about using the abilities we have, instead of ...

I started reading books very early, partially due to the fact that I had an elder sister who used to read a lot, and with a gap of only 1 year and 10 months, I was constantly trying to ape her, or do the exact opposite! My mother too used to read and I guess that could have contributed to this insatiable desire for reading. Of course I cannot deny the influence my school had on my reading habits. Starting with Kitty and Rover in LKG, Sishya school encouraged us (my sis and I), to read. I still remember our library teacher,very strict, who used to get very annoyed if she saw us folding the corner of our books to keep the page! She would keep a track of who was reading which book and encouraged to read beyond our age if she saw fit. And I was Fit!! No comics in our school library( at least I don't remember seeing them), only loads and loads of Enid Blyton, Roald Dahl, and I forget the author of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe! I even remember my library teacher's name,Mrs...

Here are some of my puppets for you all to see. As i had said earlier, I like working with paper. I am not much of a puppeteer and most of my puppets are used as props. The difference is that with puppets, they themselves play the role while the puppeteer takes the role behind, whereas i keep them with me as an illustrationwith me, mostly. I love my story box for Rupa story, and know that it is a super hit. Bhasmasura is the big puppet, while Enormous croc., is a paper cover puppet. Simba is cloth and paper. Mahishasuramardhni is a stick puppet show( I thank my friend Priyanka without whom that story could not have been done.). So enjoy and use your creative juices to come with wonderful stories.